Gene. Sys. (17 page)

“That’s good to hear,” the other scientist says
as she extends her hand. “I’m Dr.
Cicca
. I’ll be
teaching Survival Techniques.”

“That’s me.” I shake her hand. Instantly, I am
embarrassed by my reaction. I don’t know why I said that and now I feel like an
idiot. Before I can make any more of a fool of myself, I continue past them. “I
need to go see the other Genesys. See you soon.”

I feel my cheeks flush as I continue down the
hall. A smile graces my face as I laugh at myself for my awkwardness. When I
turn the next corner, I see Ox, Mag, K and Ev walking towards me.

“Atom!” Ev runs towards me with a big smile on
her face, but, as she gets closer, she slows to a stop. Her smile goes away.
“Glad to see you’re okay.”

She waits for the rest of the group to catch up
to her. Her sudden switch confuses me. I had thought that she was maybe
embarrassed before by the previous incident, but she would be over that by now.
She’s definitely not embarrassed. She seems mad at me. I want to ask her why,
but I know that now is not the time.

“Let’s head back to the room. Is everyone else
still there?” I look at Mag.

“I think so,” she says.

“Okay good. I have a lot to tell you guys.”

They turn to head back to the room and I follow.
As we approach, Sodi and Sil walk out, but Ox waves them back in.

When we enter, Cal, Al, Hydro and Fe come over
and bombard me with questions. Fe gives me a hug and out of the corner of my
eye I see Ev furrow her brow. I manage to pull away from them and walk to the
front of the room.

“Alright, everyone. I’ve got a lot to say, so
will you all just take a seat please?” I look around at the group. A smile
cheats its way to my face as I realize that this is the first time that I am
looking at them and they seem unified. The twelve of us are family.

Most of the Genesys take a seat with the
exception of Titan, Sil and surprisingly Ev. Titan and Sil I expected, but Ev
seems to be doing it to spite me. I can’t help but feel hurt.

I choose not to look at her as I speak. “First
off, I am fine. My leg feels good and we will be able to continue the
simulations in a couple of days. In the meantime, Rene told me that
we’ll
be taking some new classes. He asked me to split us in
to four groups so that each group may master one discipline.

“Ev, Cal and Sodi. You will be learning the
Languages of the world.” I look at their faces and, as I expected, Cal and Ev
seem content. Sodi doesn’t really give a reaction.

“Mag, Sil and Al. You all will be in Computer
and Electrical Engineering. You will learn everything you can about the wirings
of any electrical and electronic device.” I don’t expect them to quite
understand what they are going to be learning because I’m not too sure myself.
I look at Al and he’s got a frown on his face. It’s obvious that he’s
disappointed that he won’t be with Hydro.

“Titan, Ox and Fe. You three will be learning
Mechanical Engineering. This is basically how to take apart and build things.”
At least I think that’s what it is. All three of them seem to be happy with
their placement.

“K, Hydro and myself will be taking survival
techniques. This deals more with hunting and gathering, building shelters and
harvesting crops.” I glance over at K and Hydro. Hydro seems uneasy, like Al.

“Why do we have to be separated?” she asks. The
murmurs of some of the other Genesys tell me that they were wondering the same
thing.

“Rene believes that we don’t have time to all
take each class. He said that we would need to teach each other what we’ve
learned.” That’s the most satisfactory answer I can think of.

“Why don’t we have time?” Ox asks.

“Yeah. What’s going on?” Titan adds.

I take a deep breath. “I honestly don’t know for
sure. All I can think of is that he is afraid of more threats from the
outsiders. I was just outside talking to one of the drones—”

“—80 is back?” Ev perks up.

“Yes.” I smile at her.

“Who’s 80?” Fe asks. There is a hint of jealousy
in her voice.

“He’s one of the drones. He was sent away to
work on the bunkers, but they brought him and most of the other drones back
after the last attack.” As I look around the room, I get the sense that some of
the Genesys might not receive 80 too well. Cal seems a bit disturbed.

“So Rene is afraid that the outsiders will
attack again?” Mag speaks up. Fear glazes her words.

“I believe so. When I was out there I saw a lot
of those
Flyz
hovering above the city and attacking
various things. I think they are trying to kill off any threat from outside the
compound.” I’m processing the information as I say it and I’m not sure how I
feel about it. I don’t like the idea of living in fear of another attack, but I
still understand why the outsiders are doing what they are doing.

“That’s so wrong!” Hydro shouts. The anger
behind her eyes is even louder. She storms out of the room and Al follows after
her.

The rest of the group looks at me in
anticipation of any more information. “We’re done.”

Most of them walk out. Some talk amongst
themselves about what I just told them. Cal walks up to me and smacks me on the
shoulder. “I’m glad you’re back.”

“Me too, buddy.” I smack him back. “You should
come out to the grounds by the drone quarters tonight. I’m meeting up with 80
and I want to introduce you.”

“Sure.”
Cal smiles but there
isn’t
much behind it. He walks out of the room.

I turn and see Ev standing right next to me. I
stumble over my words. “You should come too. I know he would be happy to see
you.”

“We need to talk,” she says flatly. Ev turns and
heads out the room.

I catch up and do my best to match her pace.
“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she responds and continues down the
hallways without saying another word. After a few more turns, she reaches a
door and walks in. I follow.

“What’s going on?” I look around the room. The
layout is similar to Grant’s old room with the exception of the monitors. The
wall that would have the multiple monitors only has one big monitor. Next to
that monitor is another bookshelf with an abundance of folders and tablets.

Ev leans against the wall farthest away from me.
“I’ve been looking around and reading a lot of the files in this room—”

“—What are the files?” I interrupt.

“Just listen, Atom.” She glares at me.

“Sorry.” I lean against the wall behind me.

“As I was saying”—she grabs a tablet from
the desk beside her—“I was going through everything in this room. Rene
had asked me to. At first it was just boring files and data, but then I came
across this tablet.”

“What’s on it?” My curiosity wins out.

Ev stares at me. “What I found on here was a
series of messages about a gathering of scientists who are looking to sabotage
Rene’s plan.”

“Really? Who sent those messages? Whose room is
this?” I can’t contain my excitement at the breakthrough.

“Will you just shut up and listen?” Ev yells at
me.

“Fine!” I feel some anger building inside me.

“This one message was extremely disturbing.” Ev
holds the tablet up to her face.

Mutineers!

Just a reminder that the attack on the compound will be
happening this evening.
Be sure to stay away
from the hot zones.

“Did you know about this, Atom? The Mutineers?”
She stares intently at me.

“I didn’t know that they called themselves that.
Grant had told me to keep an eye out,” I say.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She raises her voice.
She’s obviously hurt.

“He asked me not to. Whose room is this?” I feel
my voice rising.

“I thought we had no secrets!” Tears begin to
travel down her cheeks.

I push against the wall to walk over to her, but
I stop myself, unsure of how she would react. “I’m sorry, Ev. But now you know
and we need to find out who these people are before anything else happens.”

“Does Rene know?” She wipes the tears from her
face.

“He figured it out after the attack. He’s asked
me to help him out and I want you to help me out.” I smile at her.

She gives me half a smile. “Okay.”

“We need to tell Rene about this,” I say.

“Yeah. I’ll keep reading through everything to
see if I can find out anything more,” she says, pushing
herself
away from the wall.

“Ev, whose room was this?” I try one last time,
pleading to her with my eyes.

“Dr. Dennis O’Neal.” She looks right at me.

“Dennis?” The name hits me hard. He was the
chief doctor in the medical bay. He helped 80, Titan and even Rene recover. I
felt like I trusted him. If he is a part of these Mutineers that means it
really could be anyone.

13

This night is one of the darkest I can remember.
I look around as I walk towards the pile of rubble 80 and I sat on before, and
I don’t spot the moon anywhere. The wind is steadily blowing at my face,
carrying the smoky smell from the city. My eyes water and I rub them to get rid
of the dry sting.

80’s dark silhouette is barely visible, but I
see that there is someone sitting next to him. I wonder if Cal already came
out.

“Atom!” I hear a voice shout from behind me. I
turn to see Cal running towards me. He is obviously not with 80.

“Hey.” I turn towards the rubble as Cal falls
into step with me.

“So you’re really friends with a drone?” A hint
of spite accompanies his words.

“He’s a good guy. You’ll like him,” I say as I
reach the rubble. We climb up to join 80 and another drone at the top. The other
drone looks more weathered and slightly older than 80. His head is shaved and
he has a scar running diagonally from his left temple to the back of his head.

“This is 13,” 80
says
.

“Hey.” I reach my hand out and he takes it. His
expression remains stoic. I motion to Cal. “This is Cal.”

“What’s up?” Cal smiles. We take a seat on the
rubble. I sit next to 80 and Cal sits to my right.

“So, 13, were you at one of the shelters?” I
ask.

“Yeah,” he mumbles.

80
looks
at me. “He was
with me. He had been there for a month already before I showed up.”

“What happened to your eye?” Cal blurts out. I
elbow him on the side. “What? I’m curious.”

13
glares
at Cal. 80
smirks. “It’s okay. I was shot.”

“Protecting me,” I add with a smile. 13’s glare
shifts to me. He’s hard to read but he doesn’t seem to be a very open and
inviting person.

“What about your scar?” Cal presses, looking
directly at 13. I turn to Cal and see that he’s stoking the flame on purpose.
He’s trying to get a reaction out of them.

“What the hell, Cal?” I stare at him. He furrows
his brow and looks off towards the city. I turn back to 80 and 13. “Sorry about
that.”

Without warning, Cal stands up and heads down
the rubble pile and back to the compound.

“Where are you going?” I yell after him but he’s
already too far and doesn’t respond.

“Nice friend,” 13
says
under his breath.

“I don’t know what’s up with him. Sorry about
that,” I respond as I see Cal disappear into the building. I really don’t know
why he was acting so strange. Anger builds in my chest and I feel my hands ball
up into fists. How could he be so rude?

“Don’t worry about it.” 80
puts
his hand on my shoulder. “Things have gotten crazy here, haven’t they? I saw
that Grant is gone.”

“Things are definitely different. The timetable
has been moved up and everyone seems to be stressing out over it.” I realize
that I have also been stressing about it. I still don’t feel prepared and I’m
not sure I ever will.

“Did they say when they moved the timetable up
to?” 13
pries
, finally making eye contact with me. 80
shakes
his head at 13 and he looks away.

Their exchange seems a bit weird, but I think
nothing of it. “No one has told me an exact date but I’m sure Rene knows.”

“So he’s still planning on setting off the nukes,”
80
says
, almost to himself.

“He is. I hope it works.” I’m surprised that
those words just escaped from my mouth and I want desperately to take them
back. I feel their eyes looking at me so I try to change the subject. “So what
have they got you guys doing?”

After a few moments of awkward silence, 80
finally
speaks
. “13 and I have been overseeing the cleanup
and reconstruction here at the compound, but we just volunteered to go into the
city and help with the attacks.”

“Why would you volunteer? You’re safer here,” I
ask.

“To protect you of course,” 13 answers with
obvious sarcasm. He seems to have the same attitude towards me that Cal had
towards them. I can’t help but feel a little hurt. I was really hoping that we
would all get along.
 
 

“That’s enough 13!”
80 yells
at his friend.
“Go back to your bunker, we’ll talk later.”

Without a word, 13 heads down the pile and
towards the drone bunkers. The quiet he leaves us with is thick and unnatural.
The comfort that I used to feel when I hung out with 80 seems to have been
stolen away. He’s more serious than he was before. In his defense, I’m sure I
have changed as well.

“So it sounds like you agree with what the
scientists are doing now.” The hurt I hear in his words is harder to handle
than the silence.

“I really don’t know. This last attack was
savage and from how you described what you experienced, I just don’t see any
hope for improvement.” As I speak, I feel my mind and heart agree with my
words.

“But what gives you—I mean the scientists—the
right to decide their fate? It’s genocide,” 80
snaps
at me.

I’m startled by his sudden outburst. He is right
though. We are essentially triggering a mass extinction with the hope that we
can start everything over with twelve people. It doesn’t make any sense but at
the same time it seems like the only option humanity has been left with.

“I didn’t mean to yell—” 80 takes a deep
breath “—It’s been a long and stressful day. I’m sorry.”

“Yes it has. Maybe we should call it a night.” I
stand and wipe my dusty hands off on my pants.

80 gets up and heads down the rubble pile.
“There is something I want to talk to you about, but we can do it later.”

“Sounds good.” I join him at the bottom.

He puts his hand on my shoulder and smiles. I
smile back but I feel uneasiness in my stomach. Things are definitely not the
same as they used to be, but neither is the world we knew back then. He turns
to walk away and I head off in the opposite direction.

I’m not really ready to head back to my room and
the cool air feels great against my skin, so I decide to walk around the
compound for a little bit. In the many months that I have been here, I’ve never
really taken the time to explore my own compound. I was always too focused on
what occupied the space beyond the walls.

A fair amount of drones seem to be patrolling
every corner of the compound. If I didn’t know any better I would think that
they never slept. I just know that there are so many of them that they replace each
other regularly. I weave around various debris piles as I make my way to the
library.

When I look up at the roof of the library my
heart jumps. I remember the last thing I did up there before the attack. Fe and
I kissed. I touch my fingers to my lips hoping to remember how her lips felt on
mine. Whatever my mind tells me, I’m sure it pales in comparison to the actual
sensation and I want to experience it again.

My cheeks stretch as a smile appears on my face.
I continue on my walk and turn the corner to the back of the library. This is
an area that I haven’t explored before, so I am surprised at what I find. There
are rows and rows of plants, all evenly spaced. There must be twenty or thirty
different types of plants, some as tall as me and others barely peek out of the
ground.

I walk closer to get a better look, but my
attention gets diverted to a sound of voices coming from the right. When I
turn, I see two people making their way towards me and I can tell that they
aren’t drones. Not wanting to get caught, I jump into the rows of the tall
plants to hide.

The voices grow louder as they approach and I
can tell that it’s a woman and a man. It isn’t until they are a few feet away
from me that I can make out some of their features. The man is slightly darker
than the woman, but not by much. They are about the same height and he seems to
be as wide as he is tall. His breathing is slow and heavy, which I am sure is
due to his large size.

The woman has a familiar build. I wipe my eyes,
that seem to have gathered a thin layer of the smoke that is in the air, and I
look again. Instantly, the unique hair pattern stands out. It’s Dr. Kivuli.

She looks around and then looks directly at the
man. “Listen, Joey, I need to know if there are going to be any more attacks
before the Ragnarok. We have to make sure that all our efforts are coordinated,
especially since Rene seems intent on exterminating all the outsiders from the
city.”

A slight gasp rises through my throat, but I
catch it before it escapes. I knew I had a bad feeling about Dr. Kivuli, so it
really shouldn’t surprise me that she would be one of the Mutineers. All I want
to do is charge at her, both of them, but I do my best to keep calm and listen.

“I really don’t know, ma’am.” The man, Joey, answers
with a shakiness in his voice. It’s obvious who is in charge between the two.

“Then you have to take me to the next meeting of
the Mutineer council.” Dr. Kivuli raises her voice.

“I can’t do that, ma’am. The council
specifically said that no one outside of the council
can
ever meet or know who is on the council.” Joey looks down, ashamed. “I’m
sorry.”

“But you had to meet with at least one of them.
How else could you get them the architectural blueprint of the compound?” She
steps closer to him and he backs away.

“I never saw them. It was always a double blind
correspondence. We didn’t even speak; it was all written exchanges, so I don’t
even know if the person I interacted with was male or female.” He puffs his
chest out a bit, not letting Dr. Kivuli intimidate him too much.

Dr. Kivuli lets out a frustrated huff. “I need
you find out who they—”

“—
Shhh
.” Joey
speaks over her and turns his head in my direction. “There is someone over
there.”

My heart drops and my knees get weak. They are
looking directly at me. I thought I had been careful in hiding myself. My mind
races with excuses, but none come.

They take a few steps towards me and, just
before I decide to step out to confront them, a drone appears from my left. Dr.
Kivuli and Joey stop and smile at one another.

“It’s just a drone.” Dr. Kivuli laughs.

“I’m going to bed.” Joey, hurt by the laughter,
turns and walks away.

“I need you to get me a name, Joey!” she yells
at him.

Dr. Kivuli stands still and watches Joey and the
drone walk away. Once they are out of sight, she whips her neck right back in
my direction and scowls. Her stare appears to be shooting right through me. I
do my best to remain as still as possible so as not to reveal myself.

After a couple of nerve-racking moments, she
turns and heads back towards the compound. I wait until I see her disappear
into the building before I come out of hiding. Rather than risk getting caught,
I head straight for the library and enter through one of the adjacent doors.

I make my way down the hallways that I used to
frequent. The debris has been cleaned up, but the holes in the walls are an
eerie reminder of just how close Ev and I were to being casualties.

To my left is the hole that used to be my room.
I step in and don’t recognize any of it. It has been almost completely stripped
clean. The desk to my right remains intact, but is severely charred. A book has
been placed on top of the desk. I grab it and see that it is one of the books I
had previously read on ancient Egypt and the pyramids.

I tuck it under my arm and walk over to my old
closet. When I open it, I am surprised to see that a lot of my jumpsuits still
remain in pretty good shape. I grab a handful and fold them over my arm. After
another quick look through the closet, I turn back and see two drones staring
at me from the hole that used to be the door.

Their silhouettes appear ominous and I feel
extremely vulnerable. “Hey guys.”

They stand scowling at me for a few more uneasy
moments and then they walk away. I let out a deep breath and suddenly realize
how dirty and tired I feel. I proceed towards my new room at a double pace;
avoiding eye contact with any of the other drones I pass along the way.

As soon as I enter Grant’s old room I throw the
book and jumpsuits on the bed and head straight for the bathroom. I turn the
shower on and make sure the water is nice and warm. The second I climb into the
shower, I sit on the floor and pull my knees to my chest with my arms. I watch
the water stream its way towards the drain as the back of my head receives the
majority of the water coming from the showerhead.

I think more about Dr. Kivuli and Joey,
wondering who else might be involved. How big of a group are these Mutineers? What
other plans do they have? Who is on the council? Was Dennis on the council?
Either way, I know I have to tell Rene what I saw. I should probably tell Ev
too.

All these questions cause a throbbing to begin
in my head. I do my best to push them aside and before I know it my eyes begin
to get heavy. I use all the strength I have left to pull myself out of the
shower, dry off and crawl into the bed. The large size allows me to spread my
arms and legs as far as I can. I am barely able to acknowledge how great it
feels before I fall asleep.